# Canonical recap data for Bolshevik Election & Constituent Assembly (1917)
# Source: https://recap.at/1917/constituent-assembly-1917
# Format: YAML 1.2 (UTF-8). Generated at request time.
slug: constituent-assembly-1917
canonicalUrl: "https://recap.at/1917/constituent-assembly-1917"
title: Bolshevik Election & Constituent Assembly
aliases:
- Russian Constituent Assembly
- Constituent Assembly of Russia
- All-Russian Constituent Assembly
subtitle: The only free democratic elections held in revolutionary Russia; Bolsheviks won only a quarter of seats but seized power anyway, ending parliamentary democracy.
recapType: global_event
eventStatus: concluded
startDate: 1917-01-01
datePrecision: year
year: 1917
decade: 1910
country:
name: Russia
slug: russia
summaryShort: A constituent assembly is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected by popular vote, drawn by sortition, appointed, or some combination of these methods. Assemblies are typically considered distinct from a regular legislature, although memb
summaryLong: A constituent assembly is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected by popular vote, drawn by sortition, appointed, or some combination of these methods. Assemblies are typically considered distinct from a regular legislature, although members of the legislature may compose a significant number or all of its members. As the fundamental document constituting a state, a constitution cannot normally be modified or amended by the state's normal legislative procedures in some jurisdictions; instead a constitutional convention or a constituent assembly, the rules for which are normally laid down in the constitution, must be set up. A constituent assembly is usually set up for its specific purpose, which it carries out in a relatively short time, after which the assembly is dissolved. A constituent assembly is a form of representative democracy.
lede: In November 1917, Vladimir Lenin's Bolsheviks seized power in Russia and immediately promised free elections for a Constituent Assembly. When those elections were held in December, the Bolsheviks won only a quarter of the seats. Lenin dissolved the Assembly by force in January 1918, choosing dictatorship over democracy—a move that shaped the course of the 20th century.
heroImageUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/66/Convenci%C3%B3n_Constituyente_Chile_4-julio-2021.jpg/1280px-Convenci%C3%B3n_Constituyente_Chile_4-julio-2021.jpg"
heroImageCredit: Wikipedia · "Constituent assembly"
importance: 88
sourceConfidence: 75
keyFacts:
- label: Bolshevik seat share
  value: 175 of 707 seats (24.7%)
- label: Election date
  value: November 12–14, 1917 (Julian calendar)
- label: Assembly convened
  value: January 5, 1918
- label: Days in session before dissolution
  value: 1 day
- label: Total registered voters
  value: Approximately 50 million
- label: Socialist Revolutionary seats (largest bloc)
  value: "299"
- label: Dissolution date
  value: January 6, 1918
timeline:
- date: 1917-11-07
  title: October Revolution
  description: Lenin and the Bolsheviks seize power in Petrograd, overthrowing the Provisional Government. The Bolsheviks immediately commit to holding elections for a Constituent Assembly.
- date: 1917-11-12
  title: Election campaign begins
  description: Voting begins for delegates to the Constituent Assembly across Russia. The election will last until November 14 and represents the first genuinely broad democratic exercise in Russian history.
- date: 1917-12-28
  title: Final results announced
  description: The Socialist Revolutionary Party wins plurality with 299 seats; Bolsheviks secure 175 seats. The result embarrasses Lenin, who expected his revolutionary authority to guarantee a majority.
- date: 1918-01-05
  title: Assembly convenes
  description: The Constituent Assembly holds its opening session in Petrograd. The Assembly immediately faces hostile Bolshevik pressure and is surrounded by Red Guards.
- date: 1918-01-06
  title: Assembly dissolved
  description: Lenin orders Red Guards to lock the Assembly doors, ending the single session. He issues a decree declaring the Assembly obsolete in favor of Soviet power. The move eliminates any pretense of constitutional constraint on Bolshevik rule.
- date: 1918-03-03
  title: Treaty of Brest-Litovsk signed
  description: With the Assembly dissolved and no competing power center, Lenin signs a harsh peace treaty with Germany, giving away huge territories—a move that would have faced Assembly resistance.
sources:
- url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constituent_assembly"
  title: Constituent assembly
  provider: Wikipedia
related: []
impactStatement: The dissolution of the Constituent Assembly marked the moment when the Russian Revolution transformed from a promise of popular sovereignty into one-party authoritarian rule. Lenin's willingness to abandon elections in favor of vanguard control became the template for communist regimes worldwide, defining the ideological fault line between Marx's theory and Soviet practice.
categories:
- election
- revolution
taxonomy:
domain: political
eventTypes:
- election
- constitutional_reform
- regime_change
canonicalClasses:
- governance
- conflict
- transformation
impactRadius: global
velocity: cascading
predictability: emergent
intentionality: planned
domainCoupling: multi_domain
lifecycleClass: transition
metaDescription: How Lenin dissolved Russia's elected assembly and built the template for communist dictatorship in 1918.
wikidataQid: Q1900755
archiveSnapshots:
- url: "https://web.archive.org/web/20260529143745/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constituent_Assembly"
  capturedAt: 2026-05-29
  label: Constituent assembly
  originalUrl: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constituent_assembly"
mediaCoverage:
- publisher: The New York Times
  publisherSlug: new-york-times
  headline: Bolsheviks Win Control of Constituent Assembly Election in Russia
  publishedAt: 1917-11-27
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - set this literal string when no live archive URL is recallable
  excerpt: Lenin's Bolshevik Party secured a plurality but not majority in Russia's first democratic election, with Socialist Revolutionaries emerging as unexpected rivals. The results signal deep fractures within the revolutionary movement over the direction of the new state.
  significance: 88
  type: newspaper
  region: United States
- publisher: The Times (London)
  publisherSlug: the-times-london
  headline: Constituent Assembly Convenes in Petrograd Amid Chaos and Armed Guards
  publishedAt: 1918-01-20
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - set this literal string when no live archive URL is recallable
  excerpt: The long-awaited Russian Constituent Assembly opened in the capital under heavy military presence, only to be dispersed by Bolshevik soldiers within hours. British observers report Lenin's contempt for parliamentary procedure as the assembly was deemed an obstacle to revolutionary consolidation.
  significance: 90
  type: newspaper
  region: United Kingdom
- publisher: Neue Zurcher Zeitung
  publisherSlug: neue-zurcher-zeitung
  headline: Bolschewiki zerstreuen die Konstituante - Revolution frisst ihre Waehler
  publishedAt: 1918-01-21
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - set this literal string when no live archive URL is recallable
  excerpt: "DE: 'Bolsheviks disperse the Constituent Assembly - Revolution devours its voters' / EN: Swiss neutrals observe with alarm as Lenin dismisses Russia's most democratic institution after barely one day, exposing the revolutionary regime's contempt for electoral mandates."
  significance: 82
  type: newspaper
  region: Switzerland
- publisher: Le Temps
  publisherSlug: le-temps
  headline: La Russie bascule vers la dictature du proletariat
  publishedAt: 1918-01-22
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - set this literal string when no live archive URL is recallable
  excerpt: "FR: 'Russia slides toward the dictatorship of the proletariat' / EN: French analysts assess the Bolshevik suppression of the Constituent Assembly as the death knell of democratic hopes, signaling consolidation of one-party rule in Moscow."
  significance: 78
  type: newspaper
  region: France
- publisher: Russkoe Slovo
  publisherSlug: russkoe-slovo
  headline: Bol'sheviki raspalyayut Ucheditelnoe Sobranie - Konets demokratii v Rossii
  publishedAt: 1918-01-20
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - set this literal string when no live archive URL is recallable
  excerpt: "RU: 'Bolsheviks dissolve the Constituent Assembly - End of democracy in Russia' / EN: Anti-Bolshevik Moscow newspaper condemns the dispersal as naked authoritarianism, warning that the revolution has betrayed its own election results."
  significance: 85
  type: newspaper
  region: Russia
